What I discovered on the weekend

Nature

Or more specifically, the BBC series "Planet Earth". I borrowed it off of Ribar, and we knocked out six episodes over the weekend. I've never been particularly interested in our planet's untouched areas, but after watching some of the spectacular footage of mountain ranges, waterfalls, deserts, and undewater landscapes, I had the travelling bug pretty bad.

Not only was I entertained, I also managed to learn a few things. Like there are more ugly animals than you think there are. And there are more deadbeat dads in nature than in Salisbury, Elizabeth and Murray Bridge combined.

As someone who doesn't normally like this type of thing, I really recommend it. Especially if you can get it on Bluray, the images are spectacular, so much so that if you're annoyed by the pompous tones of narrator David Attenborough you can tune him out and just enjoy it on an aesthetic level.

I'm not as good at Mortal Kombat as I thought I was

I downloaded Mortal Kombat II on the Playstation store Friday night, and jumped right in with my old favourite Scorpion. Despite the fact that I had his patented harpoon attack in my arsenal, it took me three attempts to get past my first opponent. I never managed to defeat the second. I'm not sure if these little digital men got better at fighting in the last 15 years or I got worse, but I really suck at this game now.

The Hold Steady

I read a review of the band's new album "Stay Positive" and decided to try them out. I spent a good bit of the weekend listening to the album as I drove around and it's growing on me. They kind of sound like a more punk-ish Bruce Springsteen, and also a little like R.E.M. at their most electric. I'm not exactly sure what I like about this - the singer kind of talk-sings, and the band play reasobably straight forward rock and roll, it's not the type of music I'd think I'd be drawn to. Do I think this will be making my top 5 list for 2008? Of course not. Do I plan on keeping it in my immediate rotation though? Absolutely.

Zach de la Rocha has a solo album out. Finally.

I'd been waiting for Zach's solo album for years, so was more than a little pumped to find out that he'd finally put something out. The project is called "One Day as a Lion", and is a collaboration between him and the old drummer for The Mars Volta. Their debut, self titled EP is out later this week, although it's already on the net, and consequently, my ipod.

I think this is one of those pairings that sounds better on paper. The music is basically live drums and distorted bass with Zach rapping over the top, it's not a huge departure from Rage Against the Machine. If anything, it sounds like a sped-up version of "Mic Check" (so Murray should like it, at least).

The thing is, I've waited for this for so long that I think it's passed me by. There was a time when I would have been really pumped to hear this music, but I don't really care that much anymore. And I wonder if I'm the only one?